Prom
by PagetPaulson
Summary: They were her parents, they were allowed to take all the damn pictures they wanted.


Emily thread her fingers through her daughter's dark hair, smiling at the reflection of her baby girl staring at her in the mirror. "You look gorgeous."

Annalise rolled her eyes at the older woman. "I'm not even dressed," she scoffed. "I have no makeup on, yet. I look like a gremlin."

"You look just like me so you'll shut your mouth right now."

The seventeen year old laughed, letting her mother pin up half of her hair as she applied her liner. "Do you think I'm gonna have fun?" she asked, her wide eyes staring up to her mother in the mirror.

Emily smiled at her baby girl, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her daughter's temple. "Do you know how my prom was?"

Annalise giggled, nodding her head at the memory her mother shared every chance she got. "I do," the seventeen year old smiled. "That's where you met dad."

"You're exactly right. Your father was security, seeing as how your grandma was so keen on using our house for our dance which many would find generous, but I knew it was because she wanted to keep an eye on me," the mother of three huffed. "But anyway, my date was my friend Matthew and when he saw your father looking at me from the other side of the room and let me dance with him."

"Why exactly did grandma let you dance with her security guard?"

Emily laughed. "She had others."

Annalise smiled, starting on her mascara as her mother perfected her curls with a couple spritzes of hairspray. "So you and daddy fell in love," the teenager said with a smile, mimicking her little sister's puppy dog eyes.

The brunette woman felt her chest warm at the thought of her and her husband's first dance, her fingers clipping her daughter's hair into place. "Your dad is the best dancer I've ever seen," she chuckled. "And I've seen a bunch of damn good dancers."

Annalise rolled her eyes, opening up her mouth once more so her mom wouldn't go into her whole story about her ten years in dance class. "Hey, do you think you can go down and wait with dad while I get ready? I just have to put on my dress and I'm all set."

Emily nodded her head, pressing a kiss to her daughter's dark hair before standing from the vanity stool. "Go with the pink lipstick, not the red."

"The bright pink?"

Seeing her daughter's disgusted face, Emily shook her head. "Bright pink with your royal blue dress? Are you crazy?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes at the young girl. "The nude pink."

Annalise nodded, winking over to the older woman. "Gotcha."

Emily shut her daughter's door behind her, wiping her tears from her eyes as she walked down the stairs to meet her husband in the living room.

"Em?" the father of three asked, walking over to the beautiful woman he had married and taking her into his strong arms. "Hey sweetheart, what's the matter?"

"It's our baby girl."

Hotch refused to laugh at the ebony haired woman, running his fingers through her hair as he let his wife cry into his shirt. "We've sent one to prom before," the older man reminded his wife, leaning back to wipe the tears from Emily's cheeks. "Jack went just five years ago."

Emily shook her head. "But this is our baby girl," she pouted. "She's so beautiful and she has a date."

"I'm a baby!"

The couple looked down to the little girl jumping up onto her father's leg, trying her best to crawl up his body to get herself on his hip. "I know you are, princess," Hotch cooed to his daughter, picking her up in his arms. "You're our baby girl, but Annie's our bigger baby girl."

Michaela nodded her head, her pigtails bouncing against her shoulders.

"Why don't you give momma a hug?"

The three year old scrambled to get into her mother's arms, her hands patting against the brunette's damp cheeks. "You sad, momma?"

Emily gave her daughter a smile. "I'll be ok, baby. A hug is just what I needed," she grinned, letting her little girl wrap her tiny arms around her neck.

"Mom, relax," the man now in his twenties laughed, walking in from the kitchen. "You know I've gone, right? It shouldn't be this emotional the second time around."

Emily quickly shook her head. "You were the first, and Annie is our first girl and then Mickey is gonna be our last ever," the older woman practically sobbed, grabbing her son by his shirt and tugging him forward so she could bring him into a hug.

Jack's arms shot up, not sure what to do as he looked to his father for help.

The older man laughed, gesturing for his son to wrap his arms around his crying wife to try and calm her down.

"Love you too, mom," he tried not to laugh, wrapping his arms around his mother and little sister to stop her crying.

Emily's lips pursed to press a kiss to her son's cheek, backing away with her fingertips running under her eyes to stop her makeup from running. "Ok, I need to calm down," she sighed, shaking her head. "Her date is going to be here any minute."

Jack frowned. "Do we even know this kid she's going with?"

"She's been dating a boy for a few months," his mother nodded, setting her daughter down on the ground and watching her run off. "Ben, remember?"

The twenty-three year old shook his head. "Actually no."

Emily stared hard at her son, her arms crossing over her chest as her husband went to answer the door. "You were with us at the dinner we had to get to know him. You don't remember anything?"

"You know, I was kind of not in the right place back then."

Emily rolled her eyes. "You were drunk."

Jack slouched his shoulders. "Yeah."

The ebony haired woman put on a smile, turning her back to her eldest child and hugged the young boy walking through the door. "Ben, hi. You look so handsome."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hotchner," he grinned, shaking Jack's hand just as he did with his girlfriend's father. "It's great to see you again."

Michaela tugged on her big brother's pant leg and waited until he picked her up and swung her into his arms, her tiny lips pressing sloppily against Jack's ear. "Kissup," she whispered, giggling when Jack nodded and tickled her tiny tummy.

Ben looked up the staircase, a heel clicking against the wood of the stairs catching his attention. "Annie," he breathed, watching his girlfriend slowly descend the staircase. "You look breathtaking."

The teenager blushed at the compliment, stopping in the middle of the stairs when her dad told her to so he could take a picture.

Emily's hands covered her mouth as new tears stung her eyes. "You're so beautiful," she gushed, rushing forward when her daughter came down the stairs and scooped her up in her arms. "You look just like your dad."

"At least I don't have the chest hair," she laughed, wiping her mom's makeup for her before turning to her boyfriend. "Hi."

Ben jerkily nodded his head, showing her the flower he had picked out.

Emily backed away from the couple, elbowing her husband in the side when he tried to take a picture of his daughter getting the flower slipped onto her wrist. "He got her a corsage," she smiled.

"Are you ready to go?"

Hotch immediately shook his head, blocking his daughter from exiting the house. "I need pictures."

Annalise's head tilted to the side as she groaned. "Daddy, come on."

"The faster you put on a smile, the faster you get to leave."

The seventeen year old glared to her grinning parents before giving a smile, leaning into her boyfriend's arms before the couple finally backed away from the front door. "Ok bye," she laughed, letting her boyfriend lead her out into the warm night.

Emily looked over to her son. "You're driving?"

Jack winked, catching the keys his mother tossed to him. "I've got it."


End file.
